Hong Kong’s PolyU launches city’s first metaverse postgraduate programme
- The one-year Master of Science in Metaverse Technology programme is set to kick off next September, according to Hong Kong Polytechnic University
- Last month, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology launched the Web3 Carnival that consists of a series of online panel discussions and events
Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) has become the city’s first university to launch a postgraduate programme in metaverse technology, as higher education institutions race to stay on top of emerging trends that also include Web3.
The one-year Master of Science in Metaverse Technology programme, under the engineering faculty’s computing department, is set to kick off next September, according to PolyU’s website.
It aims to give students an in-depth understanding of “the nature of metaverses” and “the fundamental technology for building metaverses”, learning what is necessary to “pursue careers in start-ups and big players in the metaverse industry”, the school wrote in the programme’s introduction.
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The idea of the metaverse, which envisions an immersive virtual world where people can interact through digital representations of themselves, is one of the hottest concepts to have emerged in the tech world in recent years.
However, efforts to build on the elusive concept have drawn ridicule at times.
Last month, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) launched the Web3 Carnival, a series of online panel discussions and events taking place through November focusing on the sector.
Web3 is a loosely defined vision for a next-generation World Wide Web that is decentralised through the use of blockchain and similar technologies. The term, however, is most commonly used today in relation to applications involving cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens.
Wang Yang, vice-president for Institutional Advancement at HKUST and founder of the university’s CryptoFintech Lab, said in an opening speech at the Web3 Carnival that Hong Kong can be a gateway connecting mainland China’s digital economy with the rest of the world in the Web3 era, and the city needs to have more policies aimed at attracting relevant talent.
